Stenhouse Jr., Bowyer lead first NASCAR Nationwide practice at Daytona

Defending series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and fill-in driver Clint Bowyer were fastest in Thursday afternoon's first 90-minute Nationwide Series practice session at sweltering Daytona International Speedway. Air temperatures were approaching the mid-90s and track temperatures were in the 130-degree range for the first of Thursday's four practice sessions, two each for Nationwide and Sprint Cup teams.

Stenhouse Jr., in a Ford for Roush Fenway Racing, and Bowyer, in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, had identical fast laps of 191.046 mph around the 2.5-mile track. Bowyer is subbing for Gibbs driver Denny Hamlin, who's skipping Friday night's Subway 250 to rest his aching back. Bowyer, who usually drives for Toyota-based Michael Waltrip Racing, originally wasn't entered in the 100-lap, 250-miler.

Ironically, the third- and fourth-fastest drivers also posted identical speeds. Kyle Busch, in a Toyota for his own team, and Kurt Busch, in a Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing, reached 190.913 mph. Cole Whitt, who drives a Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, was fifth-fastest at 190.888 mph. Danica Patrick, Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon, Michael Annett and Joey Logano rounded out the top 10.

After getting his breakthrough series win in Kentucky last weekend, Dillon said his No. 3 Chevrolet team wasn't discouraged or shaken by Monday's six-point penalty for failing postrace tech inspection. The penalty dropped him from four points ahead of Elliott Sadler in the standings to two behind, but still 17 ahead of Stenhouse Jr. Crew chief Danny Stockman was fined $10,000, and the team lost six owner points.

Dillon said the team would not appeal, suggesting the penalty was appropriate. A jacking bolt in the right rear jarred loose, similar to what happened to Sadler's car at Iowa in May.

“We thought we had the problems fixed and made a mistake and didn't put the new-style fix on the car,” Dillon said. “Mine had the old clamp, and it came loose at the track. It was a bummer. You go from such a high, but it's still a high. We won the race, so we celebrated just like we'd won it.”